Panagora Asset Management Inc. Has $7.24 Million Stock Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 38.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 78,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,795 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 23.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,954,000 after buying an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 4.1% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 0.4% in the first quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,000,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 39.1% in the first quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 80,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,376,000 after purchasing an additional 22,546 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth $945,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp cut Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.92.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $92.34 on Monday. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $93.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.86. The stock has a market cap of $101.58 billion, a PE ratio of 23.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.41.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

About Southern

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.